1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems, methods, and software arrangements for improving uniformity of assets within an entity. In particular, the present invention is directed towards systems, methods, and software arrangements in which variation between assets within an entity is decreased by grouping similar assets into a cluster and changing the features of and/or removing at least some of the assets within the cluster.
2. Description of Related Art
Many entities, e.g., corporations, partnerships, or the like, include an information technology department which manages technological assets, e.g., desktop computers, laptop computers, servers, and the like, of the entity. Generally, as an entity's inventory of assets increases and the assets are used by employees of the entity, differences between various related assets increases. For example, the features of a plurality of related assets initially may be substantially similar. However, as employees of the entity use the assets over the course of time, the features of each of the assets may change, e.g., the configuration of the assets may be altered, such that at least some of the features of the assets no longer may be substantially similar. Moreover, when new assets are added to the inventory, some of the features of the new assets may not be substantially the same as the features of the assets that already are included in the inventory. As the differences between related assets increases, it becomes more difficult, time consuming, and expensive for the information technology department to manage the assets.